Device for removing a fan from a shaft

ABSTRACT

A device for removing objects such as pulleys, fans, gears or the like from a shaft, having a body with a threaded bore extended therethrough, an elongated bolt in threaded engagement with said threaded bore, a pair of elongated slots extending through said body, said slots extending radially on opposite sides of said bore, and first and second elongated engagement means, each having a circular bore in one end thereof, said bores being of a size to allow said engagement means to be placed over an axially extending surface on said object, the other end of each of said engagement means being removably inserted through said slots.

llnited States Patent n91 Kappler DEVICE FOR REMOVING A FAN FROM A SHAFT [76] Inventor: Donald L. Kappler, 1012 South Gloucester, Irving, Tex. 75062 [22] Filed: Dec. 17, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 209,248

[52] US. Cl ,.29/26l, 29/265 [51] Int. Cl. ..B23p 19/04 [58] Field of Search ..29/259, 261, 263, 29/282, 283, 265

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,594,468 8/1926 Riberdy ....29/261 X 2,294,345 8/1942 Stone ..29/26l X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 253,947 7/1927 ltaly ..29/259 [451 May 29, 1973 825,624 12/1937 France ..29/261 Primary Examiner-Robert C. Riordon Assistant Examiner.l. C. Peters Attorney-John F. Booth and Kenneth R. Glaser 5 7 ABSTRACT A device for removing objects such as pulleys, fans, gears or the like from a shaft, having a body with a threaded bore extended therethrough, an elongated bolt in threaded engagement with said threaded bore, a pair of elongated slots extending through said body, said slots extending radially on opposite sides of said bore, and first and second elongated engagement means, each having a circular bore in one end thereof, said bores being of a size to allow said engagement means to be placed over an axially extending surface on said object, the other end of each of said engagement means being removably inserted through said slots.

1 1 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures DIET/TUE FOR REMOVING A FAN FROM A l t 1 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION DESC l" 1 ION OF PRIOR ART In the fields of automotive, air conditioning, and general machinery repair, it becomes necessary to separate objects, such as fans, pulleys, gears, and the like from shafts onto which they have been press fitted. To remove these objects, it has been a general practice to employ prior art devices or tools of the type which engage or grip the object to be removed by a radially extending surface or shoulder. Although such devices have served the purpose, they have not proved entirely satisfactory under all conditions of service, for the reason that considerable difficulty has been experienced in removing objects such as fans which can be easily bent or deformed when a force sufficient to remove the fans from a shaft is applied to the radially extending blade portion. In other instances, considerable difficulty has been encountered, in that, in some mounting situations, sufiicient clearance has not been present to enable engagement of a radially extending surface, thus making some conventional removing apparatus impossible to use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The general purpose of this invention is to provide an improved device or tool for removing objects from shafts which embraces the advantages of similarly employed prior art devices, yet possesses none of the aforedescribed disadvantages. To attain this improved result, the present invention discloses the use of an improved tool or device which can engage various shapes of axially extending hub surfaces on the objects to force the objects from the shaft.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is the provision of an improved device or tool for removing objects, such as fans, pulleys, and gears from shafts.

. Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved device or tool for removing objects from shafts which can engage an axially extending surface on the object to pull it from the shaft.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved device or tool for removing objects from shafts which increases the gripping force on the object as the relative axial force between the object and shaft is increased in magnitude.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved device or tool for removing objects from shafts which has provisions for interchanging the gripping means so that the tool can be utilized to grip surfaces of various sizes and shapes.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved device or tool for removing an object from a shaft which is simple and inexpensive to utilize and manufacture.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals designate like or corresponding parts throughout the figures thereof and wherein:

BF DESC ON OF DRAWINGS FIG. ll illustrates a perspective view of one embodiment of the device of the present invention positioned to remove a fan from a shaft; and

FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views of parts of the embodiment.

DETED DESC ill" ON OF THE INVENTION Turning now to the drawings, there is illustratedan embodiment of the tool or device of the present invention for removing objects from shafts and which, for purposes of descripn on, is generfly designated by reference numeral It). This tool ll) is shown positioned on and engaging a typical fan 12 which is press fitted onto shaft M and designed to rotate about an axis defined by line AA. For purposes of convenience in the description of the invention, the device W is described herein as used on a fan, but it is to be understood that the device l d could be utilized on other types of objects such as pulleys, gears, or the like. The shaft 14 is illustrated as shown for simplicity, but it is to be under stood, of course, that the shaft l4 could be the shaft of an electric fan, air conditioning fan, automotive cooling fan, or the like. The fan 12 is of the type which has a hub portion 116 and a blade portion 11%. The hub 16 has a centrally located bore 20, which extends through the fan 12 and is of such a size to receive the shaft 14 therein in a press or interference fit to retain the fan 12 thereon and allow the fan l2 to rotate with the shaft 14. The exterior surface 22 of the hub portion 16 is illustrated as being generally cylindrical in shape and axially extending, but it is noted that other shapes such as a tapering conical shaped surface are found on the exterior of the hubs. The blade portion 118 is normally constructed from light sheet metal material which is ill" I suitably attached to the hub portion lb.

The tool MD has a body M, which is provided with a centrally located threaded bore 26 into which is threadedly engaged an externally threaded elongated bolt 28. One end of the bolt 2% is provided with a shaft contacting surface 361), which engages the end of the shaft 14. In the present embodiment this surface 3% is shown as being tapered, but it is envisioned that other shapes could be utilized. The other end 32 of the bolt 28 is shown as being provided with a hexagonal male surface and a square female socket 33 for engagement with a suitable wrench to turn the bolt 2% as desired. It is envisioned that the end 32 could be provided with other types of means for turning the bolt 2%, such as a wing nut shape or the like, without detracting from the operation of the invention.

The body 24 is also provided with two radially extending slots 3d and 36 which are positioned on opposite sides of the bore 26 and extend through said body. For reasons that will be hereinafter explained, the upper surfaces 3% and W of the body 24 in the area of the slots 34 and as, respectively, are inclined in a direction toward the bore 26 to form ramps.

Removably inserted through the slots 34 and 36 are T-shaped ends 42 and 44 of fust and second hub engagement means 46 and 48, respectively. The engagement means 46 is shown in detail in FIG. 2, while engagement means 48 is shown in detail in FIG. 3. It is to be noted that theT-shaped ends 42 and 44 are of such a size that they can be inserted through slots 34 and 36, respectively, and rotated 90, as shown, to slidably attach the engagement means 46 and 48 to the body 24. It is also envisioned that various sizes and shapes of engagement means could also be provided with the device and easily interchanged and attached to the device 10 by means of slots 34 and 36 to enable the device 10 to be used on different sizes of objects.

The engagement means 46 is formed with an angular bend 50 extending across the means 46 to separate end 42 from a portion 52. A circular opening 54 with rectangular notches S6 is provided through the portion 52. This opening 54 is of a size to allow the means 46 to be positioned over the hub 16 as shown in FIG. 1.

The engagement means 48 is also formed with an angular bend 58 extending across the means 48 to separate the end 44 from a portion 60. A circular opening 62 is provided through the portion 60 and can be of a size identical to opening 54 to allow the means 48 to be positioned over the hub 16 as shown in FIG. 1. The width of member portion 60 (represented by dimension A) is selected to be less than the width of the area formed between the rectangular notches 56 (repre sented by dimension B) so that the portion 60 can be inserted through the notches 56 as shown in FIG. 1, to form an ice tong" looking portion.

OPERATION OF THE DEVICE The advantages and features of the invention can be better understood from a description of its operation and use. To remove a fan 12 from a shaft 14, the tool 10 is positioned as shown in FIG. 1 with the openings 54 and 62 over the hub 16 and the surface 30 of the bolt 28 in contact with the end of the shaft 14.

The bolt 28 is then appropriately rotated with respect to the body 24, whereupon the threaded engagement of the bolt 28 and bore 26 will force or urge the body 24 to move in the direction of arrow C with respect to the bolt 28 and shaft 14. Since the engagement means 46 and 48 are carried by the body 24 by means of the T- shaped ends 42 and 44, the engagement means 46 and 48 will also be forced or urged to move in the direction of arrow C with respect to bolt 28 and shaft 14.

As the rotation of the bolt 28 and translation of the body 24 in the direction of arrow C is continued, the engagement means 46 and 48 and openings 54 and 62 will tend to cock or bind and frictionally engage the exterior of cylindrical surface 22 of hub 16. This engagement is accomplished by means of the opposing torsional clamping forces which are applied to the surface 22 of the hub 16 due to the forced rotation of engagement means 46 and 48 in the direction of arrows E and F, respectively. This rotation of means 46 and 48 is caused by the combined effect of the movement of body 24 in the direction of arrow C and the effect of the inclined surfaces 38 and 40 and T-shaped ends 42 and 44, respectively. It can be seen that when the body 24 is moved in the direction of arrow C, the inclined surfaces 38 and 40 will tend to apply force radial vectors in the direction of arrows G and H on T-shaped ends 42 and 44, respectively, and thus apply opposing torsional forces to surface 22 of hub 16 to cause the means 46 and 48 to frictionally engage the hub 16. It should also be pointed out that as the relative axial force between the bolt 28 (as applied to the shaft 14 by bolt 28) and the body 24 (as applied to the hub 16 by means 46 and 48) is increased, the magnitude of the force vectors G and H on the amount of rotation in directions E and F of the means 46 and 48, respectively, will proportionally increase the magnitude of the torsional forces applied to the surfaces 22 of hub 16 and to proportionally increase the frictional engagement between the hub 16 and the means 46 and 48.

Thus, it can be seen that rotation of the bolt 28 will cause the means 46 and 48 to frictionally engage the axially extending surface 22 and to apply a relative axial force between the shaft 14 and hub 16 to axially force the fan 12 ofl of the shaft 14.

Various modifications are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as herein defined and described by the appended claims.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A device for axially removing an object such as a pulley, gear, fan or the like from a shaft, said object having an axially extending cylindrical surface thereon, said device comprising:

a. a body;

b. first means on said body for engaging said shaft;

0. a pair of rigid members each pivotally attached to said body for frictionally engaging said axially extending surface, each of said rigid members having a bore therethrough of a size to allow the insertion of said cylindrical surface therethrough; and

d. third means operatively connected to said first means and said rigid members for causing a relative axial force between said object and said shaft to axially force said object from said shaft.

2. A device as defined in claim 1 additionally com prising means for increasing the magnitude of frictional forces between said rigid members and said axially extending surface as set relative axial force between said object and shaft is increased in magnitude.

3. A device as defined in claim 1 additionally comprising means for causing said rigid members to apply opposing torsional forces to said extending surface to increase the frictional force between said rigid members and said extending surface.

4. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said rigid members are removably connected to said body and wherein a plurality of rigid members are provided with openings for engaging various sizes and shapes of extending surfaces.

5. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said body has an internally threaded bore therein and wherein said first means comprises an externally threaded bolt in threaded engagement with said bore, means on said bolt for rotating said bolt with respect to said body to axially translate said bolt with respect to said body, one

end of said bolt having a surface for engaging said shaft to transfer said axial force to said bolt.

6. A device for axially removing an object such as a pulley, gear, fan or the like from a shaft, said object having an axially extending cylindrical surface thereof, said device comprising:

6 a. a body having a centrally located threaded bore b. first means on said body for engaging said shaft;

therein and two elongated slots extending through c. a pair of rigid members each pivotally attached to said body and symmetrically located on radially opsaid body for fn'ctionally engaging said axially exposite sides of said bore, one side of said body havtending surface, each of said rigid members having ing inclined surfaces formed adjacent each of said 5 slots, said inclined surfaces being inclined in a direction toward said bore;

b. externally threaded elongated bolt means in threaded engagement with said bore in said body for engaging said shaft, said bolt means having socket means on one end thereof for rotating said bolt means, surface means on the other end of said bolt means for engaging said shaft and for transferring an axial force thereto, said one end extending an opening therethrough of a size to receive said axially extending surface therein; and

d. third means operatively connected to said first means and said rigid members to apply a relative axial force between said object and said shaft to axially force said object from said shaft.

8. A device as defined in claim 7 additionally comprising means for increasing the magnitude of frictional forces between said rigid members and said axially exfrom said one Side of Said y; and 5 tending surface as said relative axial force between said object and shaft is increased in magnitude.

'gf g i i z fi gfizs ssgzgf 9. A device as defined in claim '7 additionally commeans ea ci li having i-shaped heads o n one end prising. means fr causing Said figid menfbers to apply thereof of a size and a shape to allow said T-shaped i i 9? forces to Sam extending Su rface to heads to be inserted through Said Slots in Said body increase the frictional force between said rlgld memand rotated 90 to pivotally attach said arms to said hers and extendmg i i body, said T shaped heads engagin id inclined 10. A device as defined in claim 7 wherein said rlgld surfaces on said body and tending to urge said T- membfirs are i lx connected to Smd P f shaped heads radially in a direction toward said a Plurahty 8 mempers are Provided with bore i said body, the other end of Said T Shaped openings for engaging various sizes and shapes of exmembers having a bore therethrough of a size to tendmg Surfacesallow said bores to be positioned around and fric- Adevice as defined in claim 7 wherein Said f y tionally engage said cylindrical surface on said oban Internally threded bore there! and Wherem ject and so that said second end of said bolt will en- Sald first means compnses an externally threaded bolt gage the end of said sh ft in threaded engagement with said bore, means on said 7. A device for axially r ovi an bj t h as a bolt for rotating said bolt with respect to said body to pulley, gear, fan or the like from a shaft, said object axially translate said bolt with respect to said body, one having an axially extending surface thereon, said device end of said bolt having a surface for engaging said shaft comprising: to transfer said axial force to said bolt.

a.abody; a a a 

1. A device for axially removing an object such as a pulley, gear, fan or the like from a shaft, said object having an axially extending cylindrical surface thereon, said device comprising: a. a body; b. first means on said body for engaging said shaft; c. a pair of rigid members each pivotally attached to said body for frictionally engaging said axially extending surface, each of said rigid members having a bore therethrough of a size to allow the insertion of said cylindrical surface therethrough; and d. third means operatively connected to said first means and said rigid members for causing a relative axial force between said object and said shaft to axially force said object from said shaft.
 2. A device as defined in claim 1 additionally comprising means for increasing the magnitude of frictional forces between said rigid members and said axially extending surface as set relative axial force between said object and shaft is increased in magnitude.
 3. A device as defined in claim 1 additionally comprising means for causing said rigid members to apply opposing torsional forces to said extending surface to increase the frictional force between said rigid members and said extending surface.
 4. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said rigid members are removably connected to said body and wherein a plurality of rigid members are provided with openings for engaging various sizes and shapes of extending surfaces.
 5. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said body has an internally threaded bore therein and wherein said first means comprises an externally threaded bolt in threaded engagement with said bore, means on said bolt for rotating said bolt with respect to said body to axially translate said bolt with respect to said body, one end of said bolt having a surface for engaging said shaft to transfer said axial force to said bolt.
 6. A device for axially removing an object such as a pulley, gear, fan or the like from a shaft, said object having an axially extending cylindrical surface thereof, said device comprising: a. a body having a centrally located threaded bore therein and two elongated slots extending through said body and symmetrically located on radially opposite sides of said bore, one side of said body having inclined surfaces formed adjacent each of said slots, said inclined surfaces being inclined in a direction toward said bore; b. externally threaded elongated bolt means in threaded engagement with said bore in said body for engaging said shaft, said bolt means having socket means on one end thereof for rotating said bolt means, surface means on the other end of said bolt means for engaging said shaft and for transferring an axial force thereto, said one end extending from said one side of said body; and c. a pair of arm means pivotally attached to said body for engaging said cylindrical surface, said arm means each having T-shaped heads on one end thereof of a size and a shape to allow said T-shaped heads to be inserted through said slots in said body and rotated 90* to pivotally attach said arms to said body, said T-shaped heads engaging said inclined surfaces on said body and tending to urge said T-shaped heads radially in a direction toward said bore in said body, the other end of said T-shaped members having a bore therethrough of a size to allow said bores to be positioned around and frictionally engage said cylindrical surface on said object and so that said second end of said bolt will engage the end of said shaft.
 7. A device for axially removing an object such as a pulley, gear, fan or the like from a shaft, said object having an axially extending surface thereon, said deviCe comprising: a. a body; b. first means on said body for engaging said shaft; c. a pair of rigid members each pivotally attached to said body for frictionally engaging said axially extending surface, each of said rigid members having an opening therethrough of a size to receive said axially extending surface therein; and d. third means operatively connected to said first means and said rigid members to apply a relative axial force between said object and said shaft to axially force said object from said shaft.
 8. A device as defined in claim 7 additionally comprising means for increasing the magnitude of frictional forces between said rigid members and said axially extending surface as said relative axial force between said object and shaft is increased in magnitude.
 9. A device as defined in claim 7 additionally comprising means for causing said rigid members to apply opposing torsional forces to said extending surface to increase the frictional force between said rigid members and said extending surface.
 10. A device as defined in claim 7 wherein said rigid members are removably connected to said body and wherein a plurality of rigid members are provided with openings for engaging various sizes and shapes of extending surfaces.
 11. A device as defined in claim 7 wherein said body has an internally threaded bore therein and wherein said first means comprises an externally threaded bolt in threaded engagement with said bore, means on said bolt for rotating said bolt with respect to said body to axially translate said bolt with respect to said body, one end of said bolt having a surface for engaging said shaft to transfer said axial force to said bolt. 